Beltane Ritual and Magic Below!

May 1st, May Day, Beltane, is traditionally celebrated as the marriage of the Goddess and the God. It represents the fertilization and impregnation of the earth by the sun. And it’s the perfect time for fertilizing our own projects, goals, and lives with this same wonderful springtime power.

An in-between time!

In the world of natural magic, things that are “in between” are believed to have inherent power. Maybe because they contain the energies of two very different things. Maybe because they embody the power of transformation. But either way, of the 8 traditional holidays of the Wiccan year, the 4 “Lesser” holy days of are the Equinoxes and the Solstices, while the 4 “Greater” ones are the points that fall halfway between them. Beltane is halfway between the Vernal Equinox of March 20th, and the Summer Solstice on June 21st, so technically, by my count it falls on May 2nd this year. But it’s traditionally celebrated on May 1st.

Biggest magical bang of the year

Beltane and Samhain are opposite each other on the Wheel of the Year, and both are considered times when the Veil Between the Worlds is at its thinnest. At Samhain, the other side of the veil is the realm of our ancestors and beloved dead. At Beltane, the other side of the veil is the Land of the Fay. And those energies blend in with ours on request, so any natural magic is super charged at these times.

Is this day really any different?

When a whole lot of people believe in something, according to Law of Attraction, it’s real. And a lot of people have believed in this whole Wheel of the Year thing for a very long time. I teach and teach and teach that we create our own reality, but there’s a whole lot of power to be found in working with existing beliefs. I talk about this in The Bliss Book. It’s far easier to quit smoking, than it is to believe smoking isn’t bad for you. No matter how much we might want to believe it, we live in a society where everybody knows smoking will kill us. It would take many lifetimes to overwrite that belief completely enough to make smoking a safe habit for us.

This is the same kind of thing. You can pick any day you want, and tell yourself it’s a day of power, and sure, it will be. But why not work with a day that’s already become a day of power because of human beliefs?

And really, working in harmony with the energy of the changing seasons and the tides of nature certainly gives everything we do a boost.

17 Seconds

Abraham, through medium Esther Hicks, has been saying forever that focusing on something for as little as 17 seconds is enough to activate it in your vibration, and once you pass 68 seconds, it’s well on its way to becoming. And recently, Abraham says that’s now down to 16 seconds.

When we perform a magical rite, our focus is on our goals for way more than 68 seconds. That’s why natural magic and the law of attraction work together so beautifully.

What do I mean by power?

Law of Attraction tells us that our ultimate power lies in one thing–an open, strong connection with our Higher Self, Source, Higher Power. When we are plugged in, we can control and direct our reality, shaping it to suit our desires according to what we choose to believe in and focus on. In fact, Wicce, a word meaning to bend or shape is one of the root words of Wicca.

Performing a ritual in sacred space is a powerful way of tapping into that connection, of feeling our true power. Plugging in on a day of power like like Beltane is like going from dial-up to cable internet.

And by plugged in, I mean, vibrating as close to the frequency of the Divine as we can manage.

That means basking in deep and real appreciation, and it means spending some time where nothing else interferes, where that connection is the goal, and the full focus. Ritual gives us that very thing.

Like attracts like

Because like attracts like, our focus during the days surrounding May Day will find more success if they match the frequency of the holiday. This holiday is all about fertilization.

Imagine the way lightning strikes, and sets fire to something. That’s you tapping into Beltane energy to fire up your projects.

Imagine the way seeds grow from tiny kernels into baskets of flowers or bushels of fruit. That’s you, growing your kernel of an idea into a full blown reality.

Imagine the way the simple act of lovemaking can create a whole new little being. That’s you too, creating a whole new whatever it is you want to create.

Tap into Beltane energy to fertilize and fire up your projects.

The Meaning of the May Pole Dance

One of the most well known fertility rituals of Beltane is the maypole dance. The pole is a phallic symbol and the earth is the womb. The imagery is of mating. The ribbons have been given many meanings over the years. White for purity, red for virgin’s blood, but I tend to think it’s much more nature-y than that. White is the earth, (kind of barren and empty, and recently snow blanketed) and red is the sun and the fertilizing fire.

The Maypole dance is a ritual to symbolize the earth being impregnated by the sun. It ensures an abundant growing season and a bountiful harvest come fall.

For your own Beltane ritual, pick any projects or goals you want to fertilize with this same energy, so that they will grow into reality for you.

An LOA-Beltane-Crystal Magic Rite

My magical timing for this rite will be 9:37 a.m. EST on May 2nd. Halfway between dawn and high noon, on the day halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. You can do it whenever it feels right for you.

Choose a stone to represent each of your major goals.

You can choose pretty shaped rocks you find outside, or semi-precious gemstones, crystals or minerals to represent your goals. You can find out which stones match which magical goals in CRYSTAL, GEM AND METAL MAGIC by Scott Cunningham. Or Google it. Or just go by your intuition, always the most powerful thing to do.

Create sacred space

Traditionally, natural magic is performed within sacred space in the form of a magic circle. There are many rites to cast a magic circle, and you can get as complicated as you want. It’s enough to walk clockwise in a circle big enough to work within, and visualize a trail of a light forming the circle’s boundary line on the floor or ground behind you. Once this boundary of light is “drawn,” stand in the center, and imagine it closing above and below you, forming a sphere or a bubble. Stomp once to “seal” it.

Invoke sacred energies

In many spiritual paths, the four directions and elements are honored, acknowledged, and invited to lend energy to the rite.

In my system the North is the energy of Earth, and all things physical, solid, and cool. Home, wealth, career, luck, physical health. I stand in the northernmost part of my circle, facing North, and welcome its energies.

The East is the energy of Air and all things mental and new. Inspiration, rebirth, innocence, travel and communication. I stand in the easternmost section facing East and welcome its energies.

The South is the energy of Fire and all things active, passionate and hot. Energy, passion, drive, triumph, sex, rapid transformation. I welcome it like the others.

The West is the energy of Water and all things deep, spiritual and emotional. Channeling, psychism, emotional healing, love, friendship, gentle transformation. I welcome it as well.

The Center is the home of Spirit that fuels it all. I stand in the center, and invite its energies in as well.

There are words you can recite. There are methods that involve drawing shapes in the air, slightly different for each element. There are a million element invocations. Use any you like, or write your own, or just visualize and feel and stay silent.

Charging up your stones

Pick up one of your stones. Sit with it, hold it to your heart, and imagine the energy of the goal it represents filling you, beaming from you, filling the stone, filling the sphere until you’re ready release it to the world later in the rite. This energy will be magnified a thousand fold, and will beam back to you and into your life. Feel what that energy feels like. Feel what having that goal will feel like. Feel it now. Fill your rock and your space with it.

Then place the stone in one of the directions, whichever feels right to you. Decide on these associations prior to the rite, or just trust your gut, and place then intuitively.

Once all the crystals have been charged and placed, it’s time to raise the energy.

How to raise energy

You’re going to move around the circle, clockwise, in a rhythmic, bouncing step that starts slow and grows. You can dip, hop, bounce, and twirl (but only clockwise.) You can beat a drum as you do this, or shake a rattle in time. And as you go, you will chant, over and over and over:

Air I am, Fire I am,

Water, Earth and Spirit I am.

Air I am, Fire I am

Water, Earth and Spirit I am!

The key to raising energy, is to cut loose and feel the energy of those words. You ARE the elements. You ARE Spirit. You ARE Goddess! You are creating your own reality.

With each verse, move a little faster, chant a little louder, pick up the tempo and feel the power build in you, filling your circle with energy until it’s thrumming and ready to burst.

When you sense the energy has reached a high vibration crescendo, think or say RELEASE and at the same instant, STOP. Relax your entire body. I often sink right to the floor at this point. As you do this, imagine you’ve opened the sunroof in your circle, and the energy is exploding out from it into all creation in multicolored beams of light and glitter.

Communing

The second part of the rite is purely communing with the energies you’ve invoked. This is a supercharged download for you because everything you want is very very active in your vibration right at this moment.

So sit for a while in your circle, surrounded by magical residue and residual power, and silence your mind, and just soak it all up. 15 minutes should do. Try to keep your mind from chattering.

If you want, this is a wonderful time to perform any divination you might want to do.

Giving Thanks

Bless yourself. Bless your space. Bless the elements. Bless the Divine. As you say a blissful hail and farewell to each energy you brought into this circle, Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit, pause for a moment to thank each of them more specifically, by acknowledging the ways you already see your goals manifesting in your life.

Do this in reverse order, so if you started in the East, you now start in the Center, then North, and move counterclockwise to the West, then South, then East.

Walk widdershins (counterclockwise) around your circle, and imagine the sphere retracting into its original boundary line and then sinking into the earth itself. I like to kneel and press my palms to the earth to help ground me, as well.

Afterward

The stones can be gathered up and placed in strategic locations around your home. You should have a grounding snack after ritual. Grain-based things are usually recommended. Fruit also works nicely. But personally, I prefer a cookie.

Let it go!

It is important now to go about your business in the calm confidence that this is done. You don’t need to keep track or count the days or wonder what’s taking so long. It’s done. The only task now is aligning yourself with your new reality, and thereby stepping into it.

Hey, cool that you’re here. I’m Maggie Shayne and I know about creating for a living. I’m a 23 year veteran of more than 60 novels, 25 novellas, an advice column and two CBS Daytime Soaps. I’ve worked for almost every major publisher in New York. In 2014 I went indie, and wrote and published some more while learning to run my own company.

I’m also a complete spiritual geek. All my life I’ve studied religions in search of “the truth,” only to find it’s something we make up as we go along. I’m a Wiccan High Priestess and Elder, Legal Clergy, Third Degree Reiki healer, Spellcaster, Tarot Card Reader, Omen Seer, half-assed shaman and aspiring yogini.

I’m a philosopher-slash-prophetess. I get insights and understanding when I meditate and then I journal it all, and eventually those insights and visions become my blog posts.

Above all else, I’m an avid student and teacher of The Law of Attraction.

I have figured out how to do this. For real. I have leveraged the most powerful force in the Universe to create the life and business of my dreams, and more is unfolding all the time. I am having so much fun that I can’t keep it to myself.

I want to share with you all the ways I’ve learned to literally create my own reality.

And if you join me here, you’re going to learn how to create yours, too.